At 01:43 PM 12/07/2001 +0100, Sebastian Rahtz wrote:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
><snip>
> > Does DSSSL work better than Xsl for rendering PDF?
>
>not really, no. You have a choice of at least 4 tools [1] to render XSL
>FO, and one to render DSSSL. so your chances of success are higher.
><snip>
>[1] FOP, PassiveTeX, XEP, Antenna House
Just to expand on this from a semi-casual user's standpoint:
1. The XEP and Antenna House products are commercial. I've checked into the
pricing and they are way out of line for a small business or individual
consultant's budget. In fact the business models of both companies
specifically exclude individual price points and focus on corporate or
server based pricing. Unfortunately, as you might expect, I perceive them
as being the most functional and easiest to implement and use of the group.
XEP is Java based and I think Antenna House is a Windows GUI and API
(ActiveX) tool.
2. PassiveTeX may ultimately the most flexible and powerful environment
because of its relationship with TeX. You would need to know TeX quite well
in order to exploit this potential. When last I looked PassiveTeX was
targeted only at the TEI XML dialect. It's hard to believe there would not
be a DocBook version around but I'm not aware of it and willing to admit
ignorance (and accept help) on this count. I'm not sure how difficult it is
to configure PassiveTeX to the Docbook dialect. It would likely depend on
how much of docbook you use or need.
3. FOP just seems to move so slowly. It doesn't seem to be a priority with
the Apache organization. The reasons from this may relate to different
thread on either this list or the XML-FO list regarding the interests of
some of the major industry players with respect to FO. FOP is a Jave based
tool set.
4. DSSSL has always seemed to be "from Mars" to me in spite of its ISO
standing. I think my perception may be more general and as a consequence
support for DSSSL has never reached any sort of commercial critical mass.
(Of course these thoughts have been done to death before and elsewhere.)
Hoping to be corrected and enlightened on any or all of these
points. Regards. ...edN